


I'm Here to Catch You Now

by TardisTexan



Series: The Twelfth Doctor and his Wife [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, library fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 01:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1113749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisTexan/pseuds/TardisTexan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Library fix it with Twelve doing the fixing, the first time River meets Twelve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Here to Catch You Now

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before the Christmas special, but waited to post it to see if Moffat would ruin our hopes of a Library fix it, or finally do one of his own. Jury is still out I guess. Depends on if you think Tasha is River. 
> 
> I went ahead and decided to post it, because I think there are some great moments here, and I know there are some that think Tasha is not River. And also since Eleven didn't get uploaded into the Library before Twelve showed up, that we know of. So, here is another Library fix it but also the first meeting of Twelve and River.

The Doctor was standing in the shadows, staying out of sight. The body was new, the suit was new, but he wasn't. He was old, but he wasn't tired. No, not anymore. As he watched his younger self and his beautiful wife talking, he was feeling very spry indeed. Gray hair be damned, he couldn't wait to get that woman in his arms.

"Ouch!" he almost said aloud as he watched River deck the younger Doctor. He had forgotten that she had given him such a good punch in the jaw. He always deserved a good punch when it came to River. He never treated her like she deserved to be treated. Well, he could change that now, couldn't he? He watched as she dragged him over and handcuffed him to the cabinet, setting their screwdrivers out of reach. Then she started wiring things up. She was so brave. Stubborn as hell, but brave. 

Then the younger Doctor woke up and started yelling at River. This part he didn't really want to watch, it was burned into his memory and had never faded. Her words here would haunt him for centuries. _Not one line, don't you dare._ But he had to watch, he had to time it just right. He heard River say, "You and me, Time and space, you watch us run." and he felt like crying. He knew what the younger Doctor was feeling. He was feeling the sadness of a tremendous loss. Even though he didn't know this woman, she knew his name, and that was....important. Watching River Song wire herself up to die was like watching a future full of happiness disappear before his eyes. 

Just as the countdown was ending and River was just about to link the two cables together, the older Doctor pushed the button in his hand. Time froze around him. He knew this was dangerous, and River was probably going to be mad at him for taking such a risk, but he didn't care. All time on the planet was frozen, except for him. He picked up the black box next to him and walked over to her. He sat the box down and pulled a bracelet out of his pocket. It matched the one he was wearing. He grabbed River's wrist in preparation to pull the cables apart, and then put the bracelet on her wrist. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. As he snapped the bracelet closed, River "woke up" and he quickly pulled her arm and kept the cables from meeting. 

River was confused. The countdown had stopped and there was a man she didn't know suddenly standing in front of her, holding her arm. She started to struggle. "Who are you?" she asked angrily.

"Oh my, I never knew how good it would feel to be on the other end of that question," the man replied, smiling. River froze. She lifted her eyes to look into his eyes. "Hi Honey, I'm home," the man said softly. 

River's eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped. She tried to form questions, but her mind refused to cooperate. She just stared at him, stared at the Doctor. "I've stopped time." He showed her the device in his hand. "Nasty piece of equipment that no one should have, but I have one. And while time is stopped, we are going to unwire you from this machine. Yes, I know," he started as he began unwiring her. "You are probably wondering where the gangly, chinny guy is. Well, he was an idiot." The Doctor gave her a very serious look. "You were very dramatic there, you know. _Not one line, don't you dare._ Chinny took that very literally. And him," the Doctor pointed to his younger self frozen on the floor, "well, you scarred him for life." 

River didn't know what to think, but she knew she was angry. "What are you doing here? I have to do this. All of those people that CAL has saved, I have to do this so that they live. The countdown... we can't!" She looked at the floor, and then looked back up at him. "And of course I was dramatic. I was about to die and I was saying goodbye to my husband. I think I deserved some drama."

"Yes, I know," the Doctor said calmly. "But you didn't really expect me to let my wife die here, did you? I've been there to catch you every time you jumped off a roof or out of an airlock. Of course I'm going to be here to catch you now." He had her unwired and he lifted the conduits off her head. "CAL needs more memory, right? She needs the power of a brain. Well, look what I have." He pointed to the box. "I got it on 73rd century Earth. Very advanced technology. It houses the memory and computing power of 15 brains, right here in this box. Plenty of memory for CAL and the data core to be restored. Here, let's put it out of sight of ole spikey hair over there." 

River was staring, just staring at him. She couldn't form words. She had thought it was all over and the Doctor had come for her anyway. She looked at him, nodded, and helped him move the box and wire it to the system. As they were wiring, her words came to her. "Stopped time? It's too dangerous! You shouldn't have taken that kind of risk for me. And why in the world are you Scottish now? " The older Doctor just gave her a wink and went on about his work. Oh, that man was so infuriating. But, still, he had come for her. 

When they were done, he turned and took her hands. "Now River, we don't have much time, but I thought you died here. As I said, it scarred me deeply. And you were right, I knew the entire time we were together, and it was awful to endure. But endure it I did, and will, all for you. But now is your opportunity to change that if you want. It all depends on what we show him," the Doctor inclined his head toward the younger one.

She considered what he was saying, tears welling up in her eyes. "Doctor, I am so sorry that I was the source of pain that you carried for so long. I am sorry that I am going to be the reason that you hurt, but I meant it. Not one line. I don't want to take the chance that something would change, not when it comes to you and me."

"Me either," he replied and pulled her close. "Me either." He inhaled her scent and kissed the top of her head. Damn he had missed her so much. But he let River go and walked over to the Doctor laying on the floor. He touched the man's head and implanted the memory. Then he took River's hand, "Let's go." As they ran out, he pulled out the small device again, pushed the button, and restarted time in the Library. They hid in a small alcove, watching, to make sure it worked. All of the sudden thousands of voices filled the Library. Everyone was back, they had done it.

He had the TARDIS cloaked nearby and he led River inside. He took off, making sure the brakes were off so no one would hear them. When they were safely away, the Doctor began to shake. He hadn't let himself stop to be scared since he had set foot in the Library. He let out a long breath and turned to look at River. "Oh God Honey, it worked. It actually worked." He pulled her to him and laid his head against her hair. He shook in her arms. "I was so scared. So scared it wouldn't work, that I would watch you die all over again." 

River held him as tight as she could. He had come for her. He had stopped time and then rewritten history for her. She cried silently against him until they both stopped shaking. She pulled back to look at him. She touched his silver hair, ran a hand down his older face. She started to speak but he stopped her. "River, wait. I know you have questions. But there is something I need to say."

"I regenerated fairly recently. Took over from Mr. Bow Tie. I'll tell you that story later." Hell, knowing River, she probably knew the whole story and had known for years. "There has been a lot happen since I saw you last. Lots of things, including the Doctor growing up. You were right to chastise me for insisting on the face of a 12 year old. I was denying my past, trying to be a lighthearted child. But even though I may have looked the part, I never really was one, was I? I am so sorry about so so much, but especially that that young looking idiot made you think you had to hide from me." 

The Doctor sighed. "I know that you fell in love with that gangly, chinny, clumsy man with a younger, more handsome face. It may take you a while to adjust to this face, to this older body, but I hope that you are willing to. Because in this body, I still love you as much as I ever did." He knew River was an amazing woman, and she would love him no matter what he looked like, but that didn't stop him from being genuinely afraid that River wouldn't want this older him. She loved the younger sillier one who thought bow ties and fezzes were cool, not this old guy in front of her.

"But you are still the Doctor, and of course I still love you," River said, listening in on his thoughts. She smiled at him. "No more spoilers. But let's not make it a habit of wandering around in each others minds all the time. That would probably be a very very bad idea." River ran her hands down his arms. Yes, he was older, but so was she. He still had a long lanky frame, and long fingers. His eyes were a little more harsh than they had been before, but they were still looking at her with love. Love the younger Doctor didn't show that often. She ran her hands across his chest, the new blue suit was beautiful, and realized that she still felt that yearning inside for him. He was her Doctor, her husband, and yes she still wanted him. "You know," she said, "Even though the Doctor has always been wildly overconfident and arrogant, there is something about the way you move in this body, a self assurance that is very sexy." River put her arms around his neck and cautiously lifted her lips to his. There was no flailing from the Doctor, no uncertainty, as he pulled her close and kissed her. It felt different, it was different, but when their time energies reached out and met, the shock to her core was so familiar. It was like home. 

She pulled away, and looked into his eyes. Her Doctor was there, looking back at her. River said in her flirty voice, "Well Sweetie, you know I can think of one instance that being able to be in each others minds might not be so bad..." An image of the two of them tangled up in their bed together flashed through his mind. River smiled wickedly at him. 

The Doctor groaned, "Oh River, you will never change." Thank the heavens, he thought has he pulled her against him. He wound his arms around her and kissed her. He cupped her face with his hand and opened her mouth with his tongue, darting in and meeting hers. He kissed her with the passion of so many years without her. But that time was past. Now there was only the future.

Later on, when they were laying in bed spent and happy, the Doctor looked around in the dim light. He had not been in this room since Darillium, their room. Seeing it again brought back the pain he had felt, and it still hurt very deeply. This time though, he let himself feel it instead of running from it. It was part of him, part of their road to each other. He had mourned her, and her parents. He spotted a picture of the four of them - Mister Bowtie, River, Amy and Rory. It was from one of their weddings, the one they had in the Pond's backyard. They were all smiling and happy. Oh yes, the pain was still acute. But he knew that being with River would ease that pain. He would always remember mourning her, but now they had all the time in the universe to make new memories. "Oh River, that idiot was so afraid of you. How did you ever overlook his stupidity and his horrible fashion sense?"

River's eyes followed his and saw the picture. She got up and retrieved it and brought it back to the bed. She said with a smile, "Don't you dare say a bad word about that man. That man is the Doctor. The man who can stop a whole army just by uttering his name. The man who has saved the universe and all of the souls in it, over and over again." She sat the picture down and took his face in her hands. "And the man who saved me. The man who reached the woman inside of me and showed her who she could be. My husband. The man I love." River lovingly kissed her husband and he returned it, pulling her into his arms and then onto his chest, so that she was above him and her hair fell around her face in a curtain of curls.

"River, you can't go back to teaching at the University. They will all think you died in the Library. Will you stay with me?"

"Oh Sweetie, you know I will go anywhere with you. But I know the Doctor. There is no way the Doctor will ever settle down into a domestic life with his old lady wife around all the time."

"River..."

"Hush, we aren't going to talk about this now. I'm here for as long as you will have me. There is no place in the universe I would rather be."

He nodded. He knew better than to argue with her. For now he was happy. She was vibrant and alive and here, really here in his arms. And he would show her just how much he missed her.


End file.
